Shut, Chained & Bolted
by AiOkami
Summary: Why did Anita move to Zephyr town? To escape everything she once was. But a certain red eyed, black haired guy makes that ever more difficult. The more she sees him the more her blood boils and the more locks come loose from her door. Can she change for good? Can she beat him at everything he is and avoid all romantic feelings in the process? Rating may go up. Reviews please!


This is a harvest moon Grand Bazaar multi chapter fanfiction! © Natsume  
I have no definite plans for this story, but it shall be written because my creative juices are back!

Shut, Chained and Bolted

"So is it your job to just wander around town?" He asked with a huff, his tone one laced with mockery. Anita couldn't stand this guy, he hardly knew her and he was already so smug; assuming she did nothing! Who was he to judge her? Especially in that ridiculous outfit! Who on earth would wear so many robes and layers in such nice spring weather?

"For your information-!" She began to retort, but he silenced her with a flick of his wrist.

"It wasn't really a question." He said before he turned to walk off. Seething with rage Anita tried to calm down; tried not to yell really really bad things at this guy's back within the vicinity of children.

"Ugh!" She fumed before clenching her fists and storming off in the other direction. She ended up near the windmill on the east side of Zephyr town, still miffed and grumbling under her breath.

"Someone got up on the wrong side of the bed." A soothing voice broke her train of thought as she straightened up and looked in the direction it came from. Ivan, of course, this was one of his favourite spots. Anita had first met Ivan a couple months ago and had talked to him often. He smiled at her when she looked his way. "Want to talk about it?" He offered politely, his blue eyes shining.

Anita sighed, taking a seat on the grass by the stream of water; her feet just skimming the surface. She looked at her reflection, really looked at herself. Why had she come here in the first place? Why had she left the big city to live in a small village like this? She knew she had anger issues and a pile of other things she just wanted to escape from; she wanted to start over. "I met someone today…" She began.

"Oh?" Ivan questioned as he took a seat beside her. "Finally meeting some more of the town's folk?" Anita nodded in response. "What did they look like?"

"He wore a headdress and a bunch of robes and was really cold and really rude and pissed me off and ugh-!" Anita blurted out all at once as she fell back on to the grass with a dejected sigh.

Ivan chuckled, "you must have met Lloyd."

"Is he the one who makes so much at the bazaar too?!" Anita blurted. Of course! It all made sense! He was her competitor now! That's how she could get him back!

"Don't worry, he might seem cold at first, but Sherry likes him…so he must have some redeeming qualities." The brunette said this with a little self-doubt in his tone.

Anita glared at him, "the fact that you can't even say that confidently proves my point."

Ivan smiled at her before pulling her hat over her eyes in a playful manner. "Why don't you get to know him before you judge him hmm?"

"Hey!" Anita protested at the action before laughing. "There's no way I'm going near him again!" She tried to say defiantly, but Ivan's blue puppy dog eyes prevented her from being serious. Faltered a bit, but chuckled from the pout he added in.

Eager to change the topic and avoid awkwardness she sprang to her feet. "Now, I don't know about you, but I'm famished!"

"Shall we go to the café?" Ivan replied right on cue, standing up alongside his very short companion. Anita noted the height difference; she was always short, standing at roughly 5 foot 2 inches while everyone else was 5'5 and over.

Regardless, she skipped off, "I'll race you." She teased, looking over her shoulder at the well-dressed young gentleman.

Ivan rolled up his sleeves and chased after her in an ungentlemanly fashion, much unbeknownst to his usual demeanor, but there was something about Anita that made Ivan smile for no reason and do things he wouldn't normally do; he was happy to have someone like her in Zephyr town.

"Looser pays!" The blonde girl called over her shoulder to the fast approaching brunette. Oh, she had him there. Ivan slowed his pace just the slightest so he could match Anita, not beat her. After all, a lady couldn't pay, or rather, he wouldn't make one pay if he could help it.

They arrived at the café moments later, both laughing and slightly out of breath, Anita was but seconds ahead of Ivan. "You totally let me win! So your punishment will be…" She mused, enjoying the look of fear and suspense on her companion's face, "that you have to pay!" She said rather triumphantly, seemingly forgetting about her bet with the brunette.

He smiled anyways. "After you my lady," he said holding open the door for her.

"Why thank you my lord," Anita said with a very ungraceful curtsey nearly tripping on the way in.

"Hey bro! What're you doing here?" The familiar voice of Dirk, Ivan's younger brother, greeted them when they walked in the doors. He skipped right up to them, giving Anita a huge hug. "Hey squirt!" He teased. Dirk was also one of the first people Anita met when she moved to Zephyr town and the fact that they both avidly loved bugs was great! They spent a majority of the early afternoon together hanging out at the bridge or catching bugs or visiting at the café. In a way Dirk was like a brother to Anita and they were both close in age.

"I lost a bet." Ivan grinned sheepishly, catching Dirk's eye.

"Bro…not cool, you lost to a girl?!" Dirk exclaimed in a teasing fashion, only earning him a solid punch to the arm. "Ouch! You hit like a man Anita!"

"No, I hit like a girl." She grinned, sticking out her tongue before grabbing a seat. "And for that comment I say ice cream is on your tab." From the look on the blonde's face there was no way Dirk would win this one, and he didn't even try.

After enjoying ice cream with Ivan and talking to the two brothers and Joan at the café Anita had forgotten about her problems from earlier. But it was nearly 8pm now and getting dark. She currently watered the last of her crops for the second time in the day before trudging back to the front door, her feat heavy from the day's events.

She walked up to the calendar and checked off another day. "May 24th…" she mused. She'd been here for almost all of spring now and so far farm life was treating her well. Her livestock was growing every week, as were her crops and she was slowly meeting people around the town. Even though she had lived in the big city with slightly over half a million people, she was not a people person. But that's what she was going to change- her entire character.

Her only obstacle was this 'Lloyd' guy who brought out the worst in her and made her blood boil. This was something she had been working so hard to suppress and in an instant- BAM! Just like that he could shoot her off like a gun. She would take this guy down, but she'd remain calm, she wouldn't begin to let the demons of the past creep back in. With a slightly malicious smile she crawled in to bed and shut off the light; plots of revenge swirling around her head.

Somewhere a figurative door was shut, chained and bolted, but the wind still slipped through the crack.

A/N: Well, it's been a really long while since I've written. But I just started playing Grand Bazaar, and sometimes when I get bored I picture fictional stories, so this is the beginning to one. It's going to be a multi chapter one and so hopefully I can update every week! Let me know what you guys think! :D


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